This is my first post to this forum.I have a wonderful, beautiful, sweet natured 22 month old chow girl from a Canadian breeder. I know she was the runt of the litter and was hand raised, but she seems to have a lot of health issues and I would like to know if these are normal chow chow problems.She has subluxing patellas on each leg and has just had one kneecap repositioned surgically because it had slipped to the side. She has mild hip dysplasia which will probably not require surgery. She has congenital cataracts.she has had two corrective Entropion surgeries on her eyes. I have spoken to the breeder and she insists the other dogs of this litter do not have these problems but that she was the runt and perhaps did not quite develop correctly.She actually offered me another puppy; but I only want my wonderful Ruby. I just want to know if other chow owners have had this range of health issues with their dog.Smarkets thing I ever did was to insure her the week I got her at eight weeks.Ruth B

Entropion and hip dysphasia are unfortunately common problems among Chows. To have this all together in one puppy is rather unusual and doesn't speak well of the breeder as those issues are genectically transfered to the next generation.His sire and dame are not fit for breeding if his puppies turn out like yours. things like this don't happen by chance and a responsible breeder will retire dogs which produce unhealthy off-spring.

I wouldn't trust breeders these days. A lot of people like to talk trash about back yard breeders, but from my experience, some AKC registered breeders are just as bad if not worse. I researched chow chow breeders and found one in my area (Washington) on the AKC registered website. I figured since the breeder was listed under the site, she must have credentials. When I went to pick my pup, the breeder had a few litters, and a bunch on the way. There were chow chows everywhere, and the living conditions were outside where it was muddy and dirty. We went inside and it was bad... there were unwashed plates in the sink and the place looked like it hadn't been cleaned in many years. These signs should have been red flags for me, but I placed my trust fully in the breeder purely because she was listed on the AKC registered website... and we also fell in love with the cream pup we came to get.

Initially when we met the pup, we had concerns about his eyes. They were very small and looked like he had a hard time opening them. We asked the breeder, but the breeder said it was normal for the breed (this was our first chow, so we didn't know), we completely believed in her. She went on to tell us that all chows have these problems, and to not worry. Well... we paid $$$$$ for him... and of course when we took him home and to the vet... the vet told us he had entropion and we needed to get that corrected. 3 trips to an eye specialist to get three different tackings later... the doctor said we have to do the surgery which would cost about $900 PER EYE.

Not only this, but our pup initially had problems getting up. We think he might have slight hip dysplasia (someone on the chow forums contacted us about the breeder and said she got her chow from the same breeder, and her chow had hip problems). We also had to take him to the vet several times for skin problems, looks like he has ear problems from what might possibly be mites? or hotspots in his ears? He was definitely allergic to fleas, and started losing his hair (so we had to put him on steroid spray, antibiotics, and flea preventative).

We've taken him to the vet so many times for so many different related issues it's hard to count. It's really unfortunate because I thought by paying lots of $$$ and finding a quality breeder we could minimize the health problems in this breed... but that wasn't the case. Sorry that you have to deal with this, but know your'e not alone in this. I know better now, and if I ever get a second chow, it would be from a shelter and not a breeder.

Wow, and I thought my Ruby had health problems. I am so sorry for your little puppy. As I said before, the smartest thing I ever did was get health insurance on her when she was nine weeks old. The breeder was Canadian so I don't know if there is any organization I can report her to. I know her sister has been a show dog. On the other hand, Ruby's temperament is absolutely wonderful. She is my first dog from a breeder, and I am 65. I have had 12 or 13 rescue dogs in my life, one of which was a Chow/ corgi Who lived 18 years and two others were elderly Chows rescued off the streets.

I'm sorry to hear about the problems you are having. I wish more breeders were doing health checks. Of course even then you can have problems come up. You can find breeders that are doing health checks though, you just have to do some research.